A New Hampshire law set to take effect at the beginning of next year will empower residents to exercise their Second Amendment rights while commuting to and from work.
House Bill 1336 will prohibit employers who receive public funding from preventing employees from storing firearms and ammunition in their locked vehicles while parked on the company’s premises. The measure also bars employers from inquiring into how employees store their firearms or searching vehicles for guns.
Any public or private employer that receives public funds... shall not: prohibit an employee who may legally possess a firearm from storing a firearm or ammunition in the employee’s vehicle while entering or exiting the employer’s property or while the vehicle is parked on the employer’s property as long as the vehicle is locked, and the firearm or ammunition is not visible.
Employers cannot require an employee to “disclose whether or not the employee is storing a firearm or ammunition in the employee’s vehicle.”
Employers also cannot take adverse action against workers who keep their weapons in their vehicles under the measure. Companies also will not be held liable for “any economic loss, injury, or death resulting from or arising out of another person’s actions involving a firearm or ammunition stored pursuant to this section,” according to the legislation.
With this legislation, New Hampshire joins several other states that have passed similar legislation. Florida’s Preservation and Protection of the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Motor Vehicles Act prohibits companies from stopping employees with concealed carry permits from storing firearms locked in their vehicles on company property. Exceptions to the law include schools and correctional facilities.
Indiana employers are not allowed to impose policies that prevent employees from keeping their guns in their vehicles on company property. Just as with the New Hampshire law, companies cannot ask whether an employee is storing a firearm in their vehicles or threaten their employment if they decide to exercise their Constitutional right.
When Gov. Chris Sununu signed the bill into law earlier this year, it received mixed reactions. Republican State Rep. Jennifer Rhodes, who voted for the measure, argued that preventing employees from storing firearms in their vehicles means they cannot defend themselves while commuting to and from work.
“If you’re headed to work and you are a person who pretty much carries your firearm wherever you go, what are you supposed to do with this firearm when you get to your work campus?” she asked.
State Rep. David Meuse, a Democrat, explained why some employers might not want their employees to have firearms in their vehicles.
He said employers may have very good reasons for not wanting guns in cars on their property, and that since the employer owns the property, they should have the right to create policies on the issue.
“For example, a day care center where an unlocked car and a curious child could lead to a tragedy, a defense contractor concerned about terrorism, or a domestic violence shelter — all of those businesses may have a very good reason not to want guns anywhere near their property,” Meuse said.
This law makes sense – especially since it applies to companies that receive state funding. If a business is going to take money from the government, it should be required to uphold the Constitution – at least when it comes to allowing people to carry a firearm while commuting to and from work.
While the law does not force businesses to allow employees to carry guns on campus, the fact that they can at least keep their guns safely in their vehicles means that they will not be defenseless when they are traveling.
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